>>5467629A fractional part of you complains that uprooting Gaius’ grave would be tantamount to defiling a friend’s resting place.
The rest of you immediately quashes that inane line of thought; Gaius left it to you for a reason.
Even if you wanted to leave it alone, it would just be discovered by some local and tossed into the backroom of a dusty museum.
Besides, you haven’t the heart to turn down his last gift to you. Even if it may not be immediately useful, every little bit helps. Especially his standard and aquila; every mercenary company needs a banner to rally behind, and for now, this one is yours.
Sure hope that you can live up to its legacy.
The other occupants of the van aren’t surprised when you return alone. Aside from a few muttered comments meant to cheer you up, everyone is willing to leave you alone so that you can better process your emotions.
As much as you’d like to just head directly into Rome, it’d be best to have a plan of action first.
Your other forays into other cities have taught you that you need to have a hitlist of landmarks / attractions in mind, otherwise you’ll just aimlessly wander through the streets.
It’s also starting to get late; it’d be best if you found a good spot to make camp and just watch the stars for a bit.
Maybe by the beach? The air might do your head some good.
If you’re being honest with yourself, you could use an opportunity to just watch the waves and let your mind wander.
Plus, Nessie’s spent enough time in the kiddie pool for a while. It’ll be healthy for her to stretch her fins and snack on something other than old survival rations and gas station jerky for a while.
After another couple hours of travel, you come across a nice length of isolated shoreline that should be perfect for your purposes. It’s easy enough to dump Nessie into the cobalt waters of the Mediterranean and watch her carve through the waves in search of aquatic prey.
It’s a good opportunity to reflect on Gaius’ eternal departure, which seems to have hit you harder than you had anticipated. You’ve still got your head on straight, it’s just gone and reminded you of a few things that you’ve purposefully avoided thinking overmuch about.
Like how Pandion’s shelf life is set to expire at about the same time your vacation ends. Sure, he’ll just be returned back to the Claw, but you’ll still miss having a flesh-and-blood ally of his caliber.
Thoth’ll go back to his library until you can rustle up another excuse to drag him back out again, and who knows when that may be. Hell, who knows if you’ll even be able to coax him back out at all? You already had to twist his arm a little to encourage his participation, maybe he’ll decide that he’s enough social interaction for this decade.
